Electrostatic code printing or etching means



R. A. PANNIER 3,339,484

ELECTROSTATIC CODE PRINTING OR ETCHING MEANS Sept. 5, 1967 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20, 1965 HIS ATTORNEYS Sept. 5, 1967 R. A.PANNIER ELECTROSTATIC CODE PRINTING OR ETCHING MEANS Filed July 20, 19655 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVENTOR.

1715 ATTORNEYS Sept. 5, 1967 R. A. PANNIER ELECTROSTATIC CODE PRINTINGOR ETCHING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 20, 1965 lolllllllul finINVENTOR RAIL/9H A RQNN/ER HIS ATTOR/VE'YS United States Patent3,339,484 ELECTROSTATIC CODE PRINTING 0R ETCHING MEANS Ralph A. Pannier,McCandless Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assigrror to The PannierCorporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July20, 1965, Ser. No. 473,286 12 Claims. (Cl. 101-219) This inventionrelates generally to the marking of the surface of continuously movingstrip material and more particularly to printing or etching the surfaceof the moving strip material for the purpose of identifying the same.

The problem frequently arises in the tin plate industry as to theidentity of tin plate goods after they have been fabricated and used aswell as to the identity of the original manufacturer of the tin plateand the tin plate line of that manufacturer.

Several different modes have been employed for marking the steel stripthat is to be tinned prior to the tinning operation. Paints and inksused for printing are unsuitable for such marking because they may showthrough the tin plate or the tin plate does not bond or amalgamate withthe steel base material. Bases and acids are employed to etch thesurface of the steel to such a very slight degree that it can be coveredby the tin plate. However, of necessity it must be impossible toidentify the product or the company who manufactured the product throughtin plate coating. Any markings readable through the tin plate coatingwould make the product unusable.

This invention utilizes the advantages of the invention disclosed inReissue Patent 25,681 and is an improved advancement thereover.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of method andapparatus for marking a traveling strip such as strip tin plate basematerial with a code that determines the manufacturer. In case ofbleeding through the mark is a blemish rather than a legible character.

Another object is the provision of a method for marking the manufacturerand the plant and also the line and the date on which the product wasmade which marking is not readable through the tin plate and requiresthe tin to be removed to be visible.

Another object is the provision of a chart for interpreting theuncovered markings after removal of the tin plate.

Another object is the provision of method and apparatus for controllingthe application of electrical current to a selected one, many or all ofa row of printers operating with a wetted surface to controlelectroplate printing on the surface of a traveling strip.

Another object is the provision of a method and apparatus to control theflow of current per band of a series of electroplate printing bands andthe summation of the current reading is commensuratewith the number ofbands operating.

Another object is the provision of a printing code including a pluralityof printing code lines one including a reference line. This object hasmany advantages since the reference line and one code line provide oneselection of characters or digits and a third code line multiplies thecode combinations. The reference line is a guide for the initial pointand direction of reading the code.

Another object is the provision of a printing code that has a referencepoint and adjacent lineal code representations that are readily coveredby coatings such as tin plate without fear of coming through.

Another object is the provision of method and apparatus for applying aprinter to a surface wetted with a base or acid for applying a voltagethrough the wetted surface from the printing surface of the printer toetch or electroplate the printing on the surface of the traveling strip.

Another object is the provision of a marker having printing surfacesmade up on a series of independent bands which printing surface iswetted by a marking material or ink that is either basic or acidic whilebeing rotated in printing engagement with the strip and provided withcontrolled electrode rolls for passing current through inking surface,which may be that of an elastomer, and to the traveling strip to etchthe same by the base or acid inks applied in the printing operation.

Another object is the provision of a printing bank made up of flexibleand expansible elastomer material which bank has a body section on arotary seat that carries the band and is provided on its outer surfacewith a printing surface means that lies in the common printingcylindrical surface means which printing surface means may be endowedwith current carrying properties to electrically apply a current throughthe printing material on the subject to be printed and electroplate orflash the same on the base material being tinplated.

The body section although not necessary may be provided with locks thatengage slots on the rotary seat.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an annular andflexible elastomer band having a body section and a printing faceincluding an outwardly extending section carrying a printing means allof which is an electroconductive elastomer while the body section may bean insulating nonconductive elastomer material but made integral withthe electroconductive elastomer material.

Another object is the provision of an elastomer printing band offlexible and expansible elastomer material including a body section andan outwardly extending surface with the printing surface all of which isconstructed of an electroconductive elastomer material which permits thecontrol of electric current through the device that supports theelastomer printing band for the purpose of applying etching the surfaceof the material to be printed.

Another object is the provision of a printing roll that is rotatablysupported and completely covered with an insulating acid or baseresistant material to make it impervious to actions of the same andwhich is provided with a plurality of flexible and expansibleindependent elastomer printing bands locked against movement on the rolland having an indicia in a printing surface which lies within a commoncylindrical printing surface for the length of the printing roll andwherein the elastomer printing surfaces of each band being ofelectrically conductive material to electrically apply the travellingsubject with a base, acid or neutral printing ink to be electricallyetched on the travelling subject to be printed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an elastic printingband of electroconductive material that extends around the circumferenceof the band and is made of electroconductive material to provide areference line and marks on said line providing starting reference markstogether with code mark printing surface means on each side of the line,the band made of electroconductive material and connected to thereference line for the purpose of etching the reference line togetherwith the reference marks or code associated therewith.

Such a code would extend across the full width of the strip or basematerial for tin plate and carry with it in code the manufacturer. Theplant at which the material was made and the line on which the strip Wasrun could also be incorporated. This code would be extended for the fullwidth of the strip and be printed continuously along the strip and acircle two inches in diameter can be identified from this code.

Another object is the provision of a chart which is materially shorterin length than the strip is wide and by placing the same on any smallpart, the marked code can determine at a glance all the indications madeby the originally printed code.

Another object is the provision of a small transparent chart having theoriginal code marked thereon which when positioned with regard to asingle reference line and selected reference marks on each side thereofwill immediately portray the code imprinted.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the followingdescription and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplificationwithout limiting this invention or the claims thereto certain practicalembodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a printing roll having a series of printingbands mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating. the arrangement of the rollof FIG. 1 mounted to etch an upwardly moving stripv with parts of theprinting rollbeing in section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross section of an elastomer printing bandmounted on an electroconductive roll and which is itself made ofelectroconductive material.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of two elastomer printing bandshaving a base section of insulating material capped with a printingsection of electroconductive elastomer vulcanized thereon.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the traveling strip backed up with anelectroconductive roll with its other side being printed by anelectroconductive elastomer printing band each one of which isindependently controlled through their engagement with an independentelastomer conducting roll which is energized from a brush forindependently controlling each band in its application of etching thestrip.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view depicting the annular printing band with itsreference line and reference dots or marks together with the severalcode markings which with the reference line are made integral ofelectroconductive elastomer material.

FIG. 7- is an enlarged view of a printing band having two referencelines and different character printing codes thereon.

FIG. 8 is a comparator chart containing the code in forms of thereference lines and marked with the adjacent code lines.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings 10 indicates the printing drum whichis provided with a series ofannular projecting flanges 11 interrupted bya plurality of transverse locking slots 12. The ends ofthe drum areprovided with the shaft section 13 and 14 one of which is mounted in abearing 15, the other end being open for the mounting of additionalbands. The whole of the surface of this member is preferably coated withan elastomer 16 that is sufficiently strong to support and permitfrequent changes of the printing bands 17 each one of which is providedwith a separate code as noted herein and is selected as being markednumerically from 1 through 9 and 0. These printing bands 17 as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 are similar to that shown in FIG. 4 in that they areprovided with a base or body section 18 the bore of which is providedwith a transverse locking lug 20. Each side of the elastomer printingring 17 is cut away at 21 for receiving the annular flange 11. Thelocking slots 12 and the locking lugs are not necessary for printingalthough preferable in some instances.

The outer surface of the bodies 18 are provided with a full cylindricalsurface 22 of elastomer material having electrical conducting propertiesand on which the outwardly extending sections 23 are formed integralwith the band 22 that is also formed integral with the body section 18.The printing surface 24 is provided on the outer end of each of theoutwardly extending section 23 and all of which lie in a commoncylindrical surface 25 indicated by dotted lines. Each of the outwardlyextending sections 23 provide different portions for producing differentprinting indicia. The printing surface indicated at 26 is the referenceline and generally extends the full circumference of the printing band17. The dots or reference points 27 are indicated at spaced positionsalong the printing line 26 and the different code printing surfaces areindicated by the other outwardly projecting surfaces 23 and areindicated by the reference numeral 28. These codes will be discussedlater in detail.

These printing bands 17 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 engage the movinguntinned metal strip 30 which may pass in any direction across the faceof the printer rolls and in FIG. 2 is moving upwardly and one side ofwhich is supported by the back up roll 31 the outer surface of which ispreferably coated with an elastomer havnig current carryingcharacteristics making it an electrode means which engages the oppositeside of the travelling untinned metal strip 30 that is not being printedon or etched at this time. The axis of the back up roll is offset fromthe axis of the printing roll so the latter will not engage the formerif the strip rides to one side. This roll is shown to be connected bythe line L1 representing one side of the circuit through the untinnedmetal strip 30.

The roll 10 with the series of properly selected printing bands 17engages the one side of the untinned strip 30 and is rotatably supportedand preferably driven to be in synchronism with the surface speed of theupwardly moving strip 30. The printing surface 24 of each of theprinting bands on the roll 10 are shown to be supplied with an inkerindicated at 32 having an inker supply roll 33 engaging a transfer roll34 which in turn extends across the entire face of the roll 10 to supplyan ink or electrolytic marking liquid which in this case would be abase, neutral solution, or an acid carried on the printing surfaces 24rotating in the direction of the arrow to print on the surface of themoving strip as it travels upwardly as indicated by the vertical arrow.The inker 32 may be replaced by a foam rubber inker that merely engagesthe surface of the code printing lines 26 and 28.

After the printing surfaces 24 have engaged the strip they travel aroundand come in contact with an electrode means such as the electrode roll35 which in turn is connected to the line L1 to complete the electricalcircuit. Current passes from the line L1 which may be considerednegative potential, through the body or along the printing surface 24 tothe arcuate printing positions of the same where they engage thetraveling strip 30' and thence travel to the strip 30- to electroplatesurface and through the same to the electrode roll 31 and the line L2.Thus the current passing to and through the traveling strip issimultaneous with the deposit of a base, or neutralor acid to the stripand thus electroplates or etches the same in the surface of the strip asit travels at a high and fast rate and without harm to the surface ofthe strip. If the strip is previously wetted as it passes the printingroll only the electrode roll 31 is necessary and the inker 32 isdispensed with.

This electroplating or etching, of course, will be in accordance withthe code on the printing bands 17 mounted on the printing roller 10.

As shown in FIG. 3 the printing band 37 is made of elastomer materialthat is electroconductive and is mounted on an electroconductive roll 36which is also supplied with the annular radial flanges 11 together withthe slot 12. Here the electric current would be allowed to pass throughthe roll 36 and the whole of the printing band 37 which is ofelectroconductive material from whence the current passes directly tothe printing surfaces 24 for the purpose of etching the code on thesurface of the traveling strip 30 which is tangent to the printingsurfaces 24 at the printing cylindrical surface 25.

As shown in FIG. 5 the back up roll 31 has the line L2 connected theretoand the traveling strip 30 is engaged between this backup roll 31 andthe tangentially offset printing surfaces 24 of the several elastomerdies 17 on the roll 10. The back up roll 31 in this instance is anelectrode roll being covered with an elastomer that has current carryingcapacity. The second electrode roll 35 as shown in FIG. is made up of aseries of sections 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 which are independent andinsulated from each other, there being an insulator 43 therebetween.These elastomer sections 39 to 42 inclusive are electroconductive sothat they will conduct current to each one or a selected number of theindependent printing bands 17 and these sections in turn are connectedby the brush means 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48. Each of these brushes areconnected by wires to a corresponding switch S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 asshown which in turn are connected to the bus line 50, and the DC supplysource 51, and the line 52 to L2. Thus the line L1 of FIG. 2 has beenreplaced by an independent series of switch means to the common line 50as shown in FIG. 5. In this way one may selectively control the printingof each band or group of bands as the case may be and thereby determinethe code to be printed by merely energizing the selected section.

As shown in FIG. 6 the enlarged view of the single band such asillustrated at 17 shows the printing face with the circular orcontinuous perimeter that is preferably initially formed in a closedloop but may be made in a continuous strip and when pulled around thedrum with its opposite ends supplied with a cement may be cementedtogether for the purpose of completing the band and also formechanically and electrically connecting the adjacent parts of the body18 and the upper portion 22 which are respectively of insulating andelectroconductive materials. As soon as the ends are brought together inaccurate alignment and held for a very few minutes the cement takes holdand permits the band to be released and said band will snap in place onthe drum. If necessary, the connected ends may be joined by a conductor.

The printing surface on this band provides a continuous annular line 26which has, at uniformly spaced positions, the dots 27. This is thereference line 26' with the reference points 27. This is shown in FIGS.1, 6- and 7. These reference points must be aligned by means of a chartin order to properly read the code. As illustrated the code markings areshown as a line producing printing elements 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and59. The principal elements in this code that may be used independentlyare every alternate one or 53, 55, 57 and 59. The code may use any oneof the principal elements which would provide in itself four distinctcode characters. When the code character or element 53 has 54 formedtherewith a long symbol is provided. This long symbol may be used incombination with 57 and 59 or in combination with 56 plus 57 or. with 58plus 59. However, each element and code character when made up should,of course, be spaced from the next code character in order to provide aclear reading of the code. In this manner the code may be expanded andas illustrated in FIG. 6 the code character or element 53 is of thefirst order whereas the combination of 53 and 54 is of the second orderand so on, to the seventh order which represents a continuous line from53 to 59 inclusive.

It will be noted particularly in FIGS. 6 and 7 that the initial codemarking 53 is aligned horizontally with the upper reference dot 27;whereas the last space between the code mark 59 and the lower dot 27 isalways main tained vacant. In this manner the code may always be readilyrecognizable and read from this alignment and accordingly on the chartshown in FIG 8.

Another important feature is the fact that the reference dots 27 and thecontinuous reference line 26 together with each of the code markings 53to 59 represent very small or narrow printing surfaces preferablyaligned. The reference dots 27 are slightly larger than the referenceline and are preferably retained small enough that they will not bedistinguishable in case of showing through the tin plate from the strip30 and in order to read the code it is necessary to remove the tin andcheck the marking with the chart to determine the identity of thatparticular piece of material.

In the modification of FIG. 7 two reference lines 26 and 26' areprovided on the annular band here shown with their reference dots 27 and27'. Here again the initial mark is similar to that shown in FIG. 6- andis likewise numbered 53 and starts initially in line With the center ofthe two reference dots 27 and 27. The next is a small dot which would besimilar to 27 although this is a code mark as is marked as 60. Thefollowing code mark as indicated at 61 are two sloping parallel linesand the last code character as indicated at 62 is a short arcuate line.These different code characters are merely representative of other typesof code marking that can be employed for this purpose.

Referring to FIG. 8 a selected code is printed on a transparent sheet asa comparative chart which is set up to illustrate FIGURES 1 through 9and 0. Of course, the code employed on each tin plate line may be two ormore selected of these numbers or characters to indicate the company;the line of the mill in that company and even a possible date ofmarking. As illustrated two reference lines 26 are provided for eachprinting number because this number may occur on either side of thereference. The printing band is not indicated because this is a chart.The characters representing spaces 53 to 59 are also each representativeof the first order in seven positions. Any two adjacent positionsprovide a character of the second order such as 64 as indicated in FIG.6. Any three adjacent positions represent a character of the third orderindicated at 63 in FIG. 6- and so on to the seventh order. Thus the codecombines the order with the position yet only a line with a referencepoint is required to read the same. The selection here employs the codecharacters 53 and 57 to indicate numbers one to four and third ordercharacters 63 are employed to indicate numbers six, seven, nine andzero. A combination of first and third order characters are used toindicate numbers five and eight. Number one employs characters 53 and57. Number two employs characters 5-3 and 55. Number three employscharacter 53 alone. Number four employs characters 55 and 57. Numberfive employs the code character 53 of the first order in combinationwith the code character of the third order of 55, 56 and 57 combined.Number six employs as the combination two second orders the first being53 and 54 combined and the second being 56 and 57 combined. Seven inturn employs the combination of the second order being 54 and 55combined whereas eight employs the combination of the third ordercombining 53-, 54 and 55 taken with the first order of 57. Nine employsthe third order combining 55, 56, and 57 and zero employs the thirdorder combining 53, 54 and 55.

It is obvious from the foregoing chart that many combinations such as 58and 59 have not been employed which in combination with the codecharacters 53 to 57 would greatly increase the number of charactersavailable. The chief advantage here is that this may be limited only toa lineal or line length and the position thereof with respect to areference point. By the use of these code characters and code characterssuch as illustrated in FIG. 7 or any other suitable character asimplified marking may be adopted to give the full history which wouldbe etched on the surface of the strip 30 before it is tin plated andwith this line etching it would not show through or be otherwiseoffensive to the interior or exterior of the container made from thefinished tin plate product. It would always be necessary to remove thetin plate and apply the chart to read the code and determine the originand complete history of the product.

I claim:

1. A printing roll for engaging a traveling subject passing in contacttherewith comprising a rotary cylindrical roll mounted for rotation toengage the traveling subject to be printed, a plurality of flexible andexpansible independent elastomer printing bands mounted along said rolland locked against movement on said roll, each band having a bodysection with and at least one outwardly extending section terminating ina printing surface that lies in a common printing cylindrical surfaceand is provided with printing indicia, means to supply electrolyticmarking liquid to the traveling subject, said elastomer printingsurfaces being of electrically conductive material to apply theirprinting on the traveling subject, an electrode means engaging saidtraveling subject, and a second electrode means to supply an electriccurrent passing with the supplied electrolytic marking liquid to thetraveling subject.

2. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein said printing roll is made ofelectrically conductive material, and said elastomer printing bands aremade of electrically conductive material to pass a current through theroll and the printing bands with the printing material to the travelingsubject.

3. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein said electrode means engagingsaid traveling subject is a backup roll engaging the opposite side ofsaid traveling subject.

4. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein said elastomer printing surfacesof electrically conductive material extended arcuately of their printingbands and laterally connect at least one adjacent arcuate printingsurface to provide a continuous annular printing surface of the sameband to electrically apply their printing on the traveling subject.

5. The printing roll of claim 4 wherein said body section of saidprinting bands are made of insulating material, and said electrode meansis an electrode roll engaging said printing surface to pass current tothe electroconductive printing surfaces.

6. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein said elastomer printing surfacesincluding a continuous annular printing surface of electroconductiveelastomer material having laterally spaced indicia.

7. The printing roll of claim 6 wherein said elastomer printing surfacesincludes laterally spaced indicia lying in said common printingcylindrical surface in said elastomer band and of electroconductiveelastomer material integral with said substantially continuous annularprinting surfaces of electroconductive material to supply currentsimultaneously to said annular and to said laterally spaced printingsurfaces.

8. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein each printing surface provides asection that cooperates with the printing surface sections of adjacentelastomer printing bands and they all lie in a common cylindricalprinting surface, said annular independent elastomer printing bandssubstantially covering said roll and their printing surface sectionscooperating to register intelligence in the form of a selected code markwith reference marks on the continuously moving strip, and a match charthaving the complete series of code mark with reference marks to identifythe intelligence of the code formed by the position of said printingsurface sections of said bands on said drum and its printedreproduction.

9. The marking device of claim 8 wherein said printing surface sectionand at least one other additional section of each band is connected andis of electroconductive elastomer material to supply currentsimultaneously while marking.

10. The printing roll of claim 1 wherein said printing surfaces of saidelastomer bands consisting of at least one continuous annular referenceline, uniformly spaced reference indicia on at least one side of saidreference line aligned with one another, at least one code mark on eachreference line, said printing surfaces of each band of electroconductiveelastomer material and connected laterally to each other.

11. The printing roll of claim 10 characterized in that said printingsurfaces of said elastomer bands of electroconductive elastomer materialengage said second electrode means to supply current to said travelingobject simultaneously while marking.

12. A device for marking a continuously moving metal strip preceding theapplication of tin plate thereto which includes a rotary drum gripped bya series of selected expansible elastomer printing bands each having atleast one annular printing surface with reference points and on one sidethereof a specific code to display and print a selected code symbol onthe metal strip, a matched chart to identify the selected code symbolson the drum and selected code printed symbols on the metal, anelectroconductive elastomer on and connecting at least the printingsurfaces of each printing band, means to supply an electric markingliquid to said printing surfaces prior to their engagement with saidmetal strip, and an electrode means mounted for engagement with saidprinting surfaces after their engagement with said metal strip, and asecond electrode engaging said metal strip to close an electricalcurrent path therethrough to aid in imprinting the code thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 990,248 4/1911 Files 283--17 X1,825,551 9/1931 Serrell 204--2 2,453,484 11/1948 Young 204-2 X2,653,126 9/1953 Grieg 204--2 2,738,607 3/1956 Beddoes et al. 1563452,952,204- 9/1960 Sherman 101426- X 2,971,810 2/1961 Ressler 204-2 X3,060,853 10/1962 Remer 101426 3,081,206 3/1963 Remer 101426 X 3,119,3291/1964 Rannier 101-375 3,230,878 1/1966 Perian 101-377 3,235,772 2/1966Gurin 101--426 X ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. S. BURR, Assistant Examiner.

12. A DEVICE FOR MARKING A CONTINUOUSLY MOVING METAL STRIP PRECEDING THEAPPLICATION OF TIN PLATE THERETO WHICH INCLUDES A ROTARY DRUM GRIPPED BYA SERIES OF SELECTED EXPANSIBLE ELASTOMER PRINTING BANDS EACH HAVING ATLEAST ONE ANNULAR PRINTING SURFACE WITH REFERENCE POINTS AND ON ONE SIDETHEREOF A SPECIFIC CODE TO DISPLAY AND PRINT A SELECTED CODE SYMBOL ONTHE METAL STRIP, A MATCHED CHART TO IDENTIFY THE SELECTED CODE SYMBOLSON THE DRUM AND SELECTED CODE PRINTED SYMBOLS ON THE METAL, ANELECTROCONDUCTIVE ELASTOMER ON AND CONNECTING AT LEAST